


a promise unspoken

by missymeggins



Category: Castle (TV 2009)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-06
Updated: 2011-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-21 03:22:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30015381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missymeggins/pseuds/missymeggins
Summary: Their first kiss happens unexpectedly.
Relationships: Kate Beckett/Richard Castle





	a promise unspoken

  
Their first kiss happens unexpectedly. 

He always thought – because yes, he _has_ spent more time than he probably should thinking about kissing her – it would happen in one of two ways; either as cover on a case or, ideally, after an actual date. Since the summer that last option had seemed less and less likely - but he's always been an optimist.

Instead it happens unexpectedly. It happens during a break in her mother's case because he's spent the past two days feeling completely helpless and useless and now he's simply at a loss as to how to help her. 

He takes one look at her face and the pain he reads there breaks his heart. He doesn't know what to do with so much emotion except press it to her lips and hope she understands. 

-  


  
He kisses her and she can't breathe. She didn't expect this. 

-  


  
There is a moment afterwards, where her eyes are still closed and her hands are still clinging to his arms like maybe she's having trouble standing upright and all he can think is how perfect this feels, but then she pulls away from him and takes a deep breath. 

“We should get back to the precinct, see if anything new has come in.”

He nods his assent and bites his tongue. He wants to say something, ask her what that kiss just meant to her, but instead he follows her lead. He'll do whatever she needs right now. 

-  


  
He _kisses_ her and afterwards she just walks away. He follows her in silence and that gesture alone makes her want to turn right back around and press her lips against his. She can feel the weight of his question – _what now?_ \- hanging in the air and she thinks he has every right to ask it but she knows he won't. Not now, not during this. 

He told her once that he would do whatever she needed, including nothing if that's what she wanted. 

This time he doesn't need to say it; she knows it's as true this time as it was the last. 

-  


  
At the precinct they wait. Ryan and Esposito are bringing in someone they think may have a connection to Johanna's murder. This time around she told them she needed to take a backseat; she trusts her team to fight this battle on her behalf, and if she decides to step in she knows they'll let her. 

(She needs a little distance; it's too easy to be consumed.)

Castle sits next to her, quietly playing with his phone. He looks up every now and again, just to check that she's okay. She doesn't meet his eyes but when Ryan and Esposito walk in, suspect in cuffs between them, she reaches out and takes his hand in hers and squeezes all her fear and apprehension into it. She thinks she hears a small squeak of pain but he doesn't say a word, just curls his fingers between hers, gripping her hand all the more tightly. 

-  


  
They get nothing. Their suspect won't talk and their ability to link him with Johanna is tenuous at best. 

Ryan and Esposito look at her so apologetically it nearly breaks her heart. She loves them so much in this moment because she never expected to find such a sense of family in this job. 

“Thanks guys,” she tells them sincerely. “If you couldn't crack him, no one could. It was a good shot.”

They nod silently. There's nothing to say. 

Kate grabs her jacket and turns to Castle, “Can we go get a drink?”  
  
"Yeah, sure," he replies, surprised but without hesitation. 

(As he follows her into the elevator he wonders if this might be a bad idea but he doesn't say a word. If she needs him right now he has no choice but to oblige. He doesn't think he could ever say no to Kate Beckett.)

-  


  
He takes her to The Old Haunt. It's closed of course, but he lets himself in with a key and quickly enters the pin code to the alarm system. She suspects he spends a little more time here after hours than he'd be willing to let on. 

“So. What'll it be?” he asks her, walking behind the bar. 

“I don't know,” she tells him, pulling herself up onto a stool and resting her elbows on the bar. “Surprise me.” 

He raises an eyebrow at her. “You sure that's a good idea.” 

“Probably not,” she tells him, sliding back _off_ the stool and quickly moving behind the bar to stand in front of him. She raises her hands to his chest, pressing them flat against his shirt. He feels so solid, so strong beneath the palms of her hands. 

He brings his own hand up to rest gently on her wrist and says, “Kate. Are you sure – you're probably not thinking straight." 

(It's not that he doesn't want this. Her hands on his chest make his head spin and he hasn't been able to stop thinking about her lips since he kissed her. But he wants to give her every opportunity to back out if she needs to. He thinks the worse thing that could happen between them is if she had regrets.)

“I haven't even had a drink yet _Rick_.”

She says his name so deliberately, as if that alone could prove her of sound mind in this moment. And it's true that she's never really said it before, save for that one time she called him 'Big Rick' - and that was for her amusement and his gratification. This is entirely different and they both know it.  
  
She steps closer, running her hands up his chest and curling them around his shoulders as she brings her body into contact with his. 

“I'm thinking perfectly clearly,” she says and her voice is steady, calm. 

He lifts a hand to cup her cheek and she closes her eyes, remembering the same touch from only hours earlier. He brushes his thumb over skin and waits for her. 

“I'm going to kiss you now,” she tells him, leaning in and brushing her lips against his. It's slow and tender and she drinks it in, letting the feel of him against her chase everything else away. All the pain and frustration of the past few days is stripped away and all that's left is this moment, this perfect moment, as he pulls her closer and kisses her harder. 

They part for breath but he doesn't loosen the hold he has on her and she leans her head against his shoulder. 

“Please don't walk away again,” he whispers to her. 

“I wasn't planning on it,” she whispers back, smiling. 

-  


  
Their first kiss is unexpected. 

Their second kiss is deliberate. It's a choice, a promise and a declaration. They don't need to speak the words aloud because they just know them. 

“I want _you_.”  
  
  
  
  
-  
  



End file.
